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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25025035">The Sanctity of Sympathy</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/MouseMinionDuckLover/pseuds/MouseMinionDuckLover'>MouseMinionDuckLover</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Cats - Andrew Lloyd Webber</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 07:34:25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,209</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25025035</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/MouseMinionDuckLover/pseuds/MouseMinionDuckLover</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Macavity asks Munkustrap to meet him in private under a flag of temporary truce, he has an unexpected request concerning this year's Jellicle Ball. But what does all this have to do with little old Gus?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>23</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Sanctity of Sympathy</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I have no idea where this idea came from, I had entirely different plans for today and my Muse kidnapped me to write this instead. But! Unlike Macavity, I have no regrets.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Munkustrap felt extreme irritation at himself for even considering meeting Macavity alone, nevermind the fact that he was doing it. "I must be out of my mind." He sighed.</p><p>"They do say talking to yourself is a sign of that." chuckled the rich baritone of his elder brother, as the large ginger cat slipped from the shadows and into the moon lit alley.</p><p>The silver tabby couldn't help but stiffen in reflex despite wanting to appear unaffected by the other Tom's presence. It was all he could do to keep from dropping into a battle crouch.</p><p>"Relax Munky, I'm not here to hurt you." Macavity smirked and perched on top of an old aluminum garbage can.</p><p>"I'm not a..." Munkustrap stopped himself just in time. He almost had responded with his old kittenhood protest at his sibling's annoying nickname for him. His green eyes looked as if he wanted to glare holes into his brother.</p><p>Macavity's expression remained as condescending as usual but his tone of voice was softened by old neglected affection and his long furred tail swishes lazily. "Come closer kit. I come under a flag of truce. We need to discuss something concerning the next Jellicle Ball."</p><p>Munkustrap cocked his head and his eyes narrowed with suspicion. "That no longer concerns you Mac. You lost that privilege." </p><p>Ignoring the obvious invitation to argue, Macavity made an airy gesture with his paw, as though he were swatting at an insect.<br/>Munkustrap found himself gently floating through the air to land on the can's lid, far closer to his sibling than he wanted to be.</p><p>"That's better." Macavity purred as he watched the Jellicle Protector sulkily settle in an uneasy seated position. "Now, if you're done acting like a grumpy kitten, we can get to the matter at paw."</p><p>"Tell me what you want, so I can tell you 'no' and go home." Munkustrap growled, pinning back his ears.</p><p>The Napoleon of Crime gave him the type of withering glare that only a long suffering sibling could muster. Munkustrap was sure he had shot identical looks at their youngest brother, Rum Tum Tugger, on countless occasions.<br/>Shaking his shaggy head, in that strange snakelike manner of his, Macavity got to his point for requesting this meeting. "The odds are good Old Gus will be the Jellicle Choice this year." It was a statement not a question.</p><p>"Yes, that is the general consensus." Munk murmured, sadness laced with his growing unease of their topic of discussion.</p><p>"He should've gone last year." Macavity suddenly snorted in disgust "But Mother just couldn't wait. Selfish bitch." he growled. His gold eyes, which ironically he had inherited from the aforementioned mother, settled on his sibling with curiosity in them. "You don't mind me saying that?"</p><p>The silver tabby shrugged "Aside from calling our Mother such a word, I agree with you. She was being selfish again. She could've waited." Then he too snorted, but his sounded more like a laugh "We agree on something, I can't remember the last time that happened!"</p><p>"I can." The lanky ginger Tom grinned "It was when we first met Demeter. We both thought she was the most beautiful thing we had ever seen."</p><p>The awkward silence that followed fell upon them like a sobering rain. Neither brother could look directly at each other, but they also didn't dare take their eyes off one another ether, resulting in some cold side-eyeing.</p><p>After several uneasy heartbeats, Munkustrap got them back on track. "So, what about Gus?"</p><p>Macavity took a deep breath and let it out slowly, as if to calm himself. He closed his eyes for a moment, then met the other Tomcat's gaze with such seriousness it was almost palpable. "I want to say goodbye to him before he goes."</p><p>"No!" Munkustrap surprised even himself with how vehemently his objection erupted out of his mouth. The mixed look of shock and embarrassment on his handsome face must've been painful to witness. Macavity gave a quite chuckle while the silver tabby salvaged his dignity. It wasn't often his little brother lost his composer like that.</p><p>"He practically raised me, you know." Macavity said this in a matter of fact manner and blinked in mild surprise at Munkustrap's own look of shock. "You really didn't know, did you little brother? Huh. Guess I shouldn't be surprised." He grumbled "I hear tell, from reliable sources, that his mind is all but gone." Then he sneered "And the other elders wouldn't dream of sharing any tale that hints I was ever anything but what I am now." </p><p>"You can't rightly blame them Mac." Munkustrap sighed. He had an idea who those 'reliable sources' were. He'd have to have another talk with Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer later.</p><p>"Oh, but can't I?" The criminal mastermind snapped reflexively but then stopped himself as quickly as he almost started. He held up a paw apologetically. "No, you're right. Now is not the time to revisit that old argument." </p><p>It was an old dance, who had wronged who first? Who owed who an apology?  Neither the elders nor Macavity would ever let it go or admit their own complacency in the matter, and Munkustrap was, as long as he could remember, expected to act as their referee. Same song, same tune, as the saying went and he was just as glad to not have to go down that well-trodden path again tonight.</p><p>"It's true though. Gus raised me right alongside his son Gus Jr, who's a bit older than me. Mother had done the same to me that she later did to you and Rum Tum Tugger. Barely weaned and dumped on the tribe so she could go off to who knows where seeking stardom." he rolled his eyes.</p><p>"I suppose, it could be said, at least she didn't just leave us on the streets by ourselves." Munkustrap muttered, feeling an instinctive urge to defend Grizabella's actions, even if they still stung him personally. Abandoned kittens always carried, all their lives, the irrational question of what they had done wrong to drive their parent away.</p><p>Macavity wasn't interested in forgiving their dame, and pointedly ignored the half hearted attempt as he followed his own train of thought, as though his brother's comment hadn't happened at all. </p><p>In a conversational tone he elaborated "She was never very good at dancing, and though she was a fantastic singer her preferred style was going out of vogue and she refused to try anything new. Sure she was lovely, but it was a country girl kind of charm entirely unsuitable for the sort of music halls and theaters she would haunt. She wasn't from London you know, Father met her near his territory by the Vicarage. And her vanity spoiled any redeeming qualities she had. Bast knows, she'd never take advice from anyone. No matter how much better they knew than she did."</p><p>Munkustrap found himself fascinated. It made perfect sense Macavity would have the clearest memories of their Mother, being the oldest of the three of them, he would have seen her return and stay during her next two pregnancies. But after she left Tugger, and didn't return the next mating season, the elders had feared the worse and an unspoken rule of never mentioning her cropped up. It resulted in the two younger Deuteronomy brothers knowing next to nothing about Grizabella and it was disturbing to realize that.</p><p>The silver tabby noticed his brother sounded tired, but it was the emotional kind of exhaustion that he personally knew all too well. Like the facts about their Mother had a physical weight to them and Macavity had been carrying them alone all these years.</p><p>This night seemed determined to remind him that this cat was family to him, not just some soulless evil to be battled and vanquished. They shared blood and a history, and a sad future as far as their personal relationship was concerned. He couldn't divorce himself from this truth and therefore couldn't bring himself to hate his big brother. </p><p>Munkustrap sighed. Life would be so much easier if he could just hate Macavity. "So what you're telling me is, just as Tugger and I had Jennyanydots to care for us, you had Gus for a surrogate parent."</p><p>Macavity nodded. There Father was a good Tom and a wonderful parent when he had the time to be one, but over the last century Old Deuteronomy hadn't the energy or the luxury of time to properly care for kittens.</p><p>"Skimbleshanks, Gus Jr, Jennyanydots, Jellylorum and Bustopher Jones were all Tweens at the time. Until the younger kittens were old enough for me to play with, I'd annoy  the Hell out of them by tagging along on their dates."  They both laughed at the image that conjured up in their minds. "Gus kept me from getting my arse kicked by letting me spend time with him at his theater."</p><p>The ginger cat looked mildly concerned for a moment "I wonder if looking back, he thought my preoccupation with the villains of his stories might've been a warning sign of things to come." </p><p>Macavity actually looked grief stricken at the thought of disappointing the old Tomcat and Munkustrap cursed his soft heart as it urged him to take pity on his brother.<br/>His tail swished agitatedly and he huffed, annoyed at himself. </p><p>"Mac, even if you did get to see him one more time," his tone was far gentler than he would have given himself credit for being able to muster at that moment "the twins didn't exaggerate. Gus's mind is practically gone on to the Heavyside Layer without him. He looks right at us like we're nice strangers, and that's with seeing us every day. It's been years since he's seen you."</p><p>Macavity tensed, his jaw muscles twitched and his claws flexed.</p><p>Munkustrap suddenly wondered if the truce between them was about to be violently ended. The images of his mate, daughter, little brother and best friend all flashed in his mind's eye as he once again cursed himself for agreeing to come alone. He started to ease back onto his haunches, ready for whatever might come next. Or at least, he thought he was.</p><p>"I'm sorry Munky. Calm down, I'm not going to maul you." Macavity's mood shifted back to the emotional exhaustion and when the silver tabby didn't do as he asked, he rolled his eyes sighing irritatedly. He grabbed his little brother's paw and pulled him down to lay next to him. He seemed intent on proceeding with their conversation under the false pretense that they shared a normal sibling relationship. The no-nonsense manner offit all was surreal.</p><p>"Did you ever wonder why I crashed the Ball last year? What my end-game possibly could have been?" He scoffed.</p><p>Munkustrap blinked and sputtered "Uh... well, I just... I mean we assumed you were just..."</p><p>"Mayhem for it's own sake has never been my style little brother and you know it." Macavity tilted his head and arched an eyebrow at him.</p><p>Munkustrap had to concede that fact. Macavity always had a goal in mind and a plan firmly in place before he attempted anything. Last year's Ball had seemed... slap-dashed at best. "Ok, I'll go along with this. What happened? Your side of the story."</p><p>"The entire reason I showed up at all was because that was supposed to be Gus's year. But when Father let his heart over rule his head, and was clearly going to choose Mother instead, I snapped. I took him so I could try and convince him to stick with Gus as the Choice."<br/>He glared mildly at his brother "But between you, our lovely Demeter and your buddy Alonzo all attacking me, and Tugger's fancy little boyfriend getting involved after that, so much for that plan." He sighed. </p><p>Munkustrap suddenly realized, at some point during his explanation Macavity had gripped Munk's paw. He was still holding it, as I'd he were unconscious of the fact he was doing it at all. He noticed they both had black paws. So did Tugger, now that he stopped to think about it. He forced himself to not dwell on all the similarities the three of them shared, he needed to pay attention to what Mac was saying.</p><p>The ginger Tom continued "I don't care if Gus remembers me or not. As selfish as this is going to sound, I'm doing this for myself. I want to see him one more time." He hesitated a moment, then admitted "I love the old bastard, alright Munky? There, you got me to say it out loud." <br/>He growled and folded his paws, resting his chin on them and refusing to look at his little brother.<br/>"The Mystery Cat, Scourge of London and the Napoleon of Crime, has a deep respect and affection for an old rag of a has-been Theater Cat. I'd be ruined if it ever became common knowledge. Go ahead and laugh kit. I know you want to."</p><p>But Munkustrap couldn't. He couldn't imagine being able to laugh just then, or ever, at what had been revealed to him. <br/>After a moment's deliberation he copied his brother's position and said "So how do you purpose we go about this? It's probably best as few Jellicles as possible know we're doing this at all, it's really none of their business and we don't want this to become a three ring circus. So I suggest we do it at the Theater earlier in the evening before the actual Ball. Besides, that will give you some measure of privacy. We'll need Jellylorum and Gus Jr.'s permission at the very least. Heavyside only knows how I'm going to convince them to give it."</p><p>Macavity's shaggy mane swished as his head snapped around to stare in disbelief at his little brother. "You're really going to help me?" He whispered.</p><p>"On one condition." Munkustrap gave him a severe look "Never call me 'Munky' again. You know I hate that."</p><p>Macavity grinned, like he had just stolen the crown jewels off of Queen Elizabeth's own head and neck in public without anyone even noticing. "Wouldn't dream of it dear brother."</p><p>The silver tabby's face said that he'd believe that when Pollicles flew and the Thames was clean enough to drink from, but he decided to let it slide.</p><p>***   ***   ***<br/>Several months later...</p><p>Jellylorum and Gus Jr. clung to each other, two balls of anxiety as Macavity approached the elderly Tom, who was seated comfortably in a makeshift nest of old costumes and a stage curtain. They still couldn't believe they had agreed to this.</p><p>Munkustrap had gone over it in his mind a million times, over the last few months, and he couldn't think of any possible alternative motive his brother could have for wanting this. <br/>Harming the old actor would benefit no one, and Mac had always been practical in every aspect of his life. This lead to the conclusion that his confession that night in the alley had been genuine. <br/>He only wished Gus Jr. would stop glaring at him, not that the Jellicle Protector could blame him one bit.</p><p>Macavity stood still and gazed at the small old Tomcat, who was rocking contentedly back and forth and quietly humming to himself. It was the Italian love song from the Growltiger Opera if Mac's memory served him correctly (and it always did).</p><p>As he knelt next to Gus, not yet daring to touch the frail fellow for fear of startling him, the tall ginger Tom surprised his three witnesses when he started singing the lyrics in his beautiful baritone voice. The old theater still had perfect acoustics, he noted.</p><p>Slowly, with dawning recognition in his grey eyes, Old Gus turned to him and placed a trembling paw to the criminal's face."Little Macavity? My dear boy." He looked his past charge up and down and smiled "My how you've grown lad! And yet you never forgot your lines." His eyes teared up happily as he pressed their foreheads together and Macavity purred deeply, not caring who heard him.</p><p>Munkustrap's reservations on his decision melted away.</p><p>***   ***   ***</p><p>They chatted and laughed and sang together for as long as they could. Macavity even fed Gus his dinner and cleaned his face and paws for him. None of them wanted to dwell on the fact that this would be the actor's last meal.</p><p>When the time finally came to take Gus on his last trip to the Junkyard, he turned and hugged his surrogate son. "I'll tell your Mother when I see her, how fine all three of her boys turned out. My little Macavity," he laughed and shook his head as he gazed up at him "not so little anymore I'm afraid."</p><p>"No matter how big I get, or how little I once was, I'll always be your biggest fan Gus." Was Mac holding back tears?</p><p>As Jellylorum lead the happy elder away, Gus Jr. stepped up to have his say on the matter. <br/>"You broke his heart back then, you know. His only reprieve from blaming himself was when age began stealing him from us by inches. There were days he didn't know Jelly, didn't know our daughters, didn't know me." <br/>He blinked and tears spilled down his plain but pleasant face "But he remembered you! And he'd ask for you over and over. How could we tell him what you had done? What you had become?"<br/>His voice hitched as he fought to contain the equal amounts of grief, anger and jealousy that had been stewing secretly within his heart all this time.</p><p>"One of only two regrets I've ever had in my entire life." The criminal mastermind said quietly, his gaze never leaving the receding form of his mentor.</p><p>Whatever response Gus Jr. had braced himself for, that wasn't it. He looked gobsmacked and he glanced at Munkustrap self consciously. He could guess what the other regret had been and it involved the mistreatment of a certain golden furred Queen and her only kitten. Both of which, the protection and adoration of now were the sole responsibility of the silver tabby.</p><p>The situation had become unbearably uncomfortable, and Gus Jr., soon to be the only Gus now, quickly made an awkward excuse and hurried to catch up to his mate and father.</p><p>Alone in the old theater, listening to it creak as it settled on its foundation in the cooling evening air, the moment stretched and countless things were left unsaid. Accusations, excuses...apologies.</p><p>Eventually Munkustrap cleared his throat and mumbled "I should be going."</p><p>Just as he moved so much as an inch, he was seized up in his elder brother's arms, one boney black paw holding his head gently to a wiry shoulder that smelt like ash, dust and poor choices.<br/>Munkustrap forced himself to relax and return the embrace. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity, he wasn't going to pass it up.</p><p>The Jellicle Protector wasn't sure how long they stood there like that. All he knew was, one moment he was holding his big brother for the first time in their lives, and the next he held nothing but smoke, already disappearing into the night air.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>My favorite part, personally, was getting to explore the drama of "marrying" your big brother's ex. Especially when he's an abusive criminal and you're the exact opposite of that lol! Delicious drama, I love it. <br/>I may do a fic later, focused solely on that subject. Plot bunnies are getting out of hand here... Argh! I have other stories to finish first!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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